Normally, the thought of stir fry and french fries inhabiting the same plate seems revolting.
“Who would even think of that?”
“That’s disgusting!”
I’ve witnessed a few pretty odd combinations in the campus dining halls as Tufts students try to “mix it up”…french fries dipped in applesauce, peanut butter and peaches on french toast, tortilla chips on pizza (the dining hall makes this on their own, so no need for student creativity here), but the real winners compete during late night dining.
Tufts Late Night Dining is my newest obsession. Twice a week, on Friday and Saturday nights from 9 pm-1 am, the Carmichael Dining Hall and the Campus Commons in the campus center host “late night”.
Coming home Friday night from a friend’s dorm in South Hall—recently renamed Harleston—at 12:45 (am), I stopped by late night in the Commons to snag a pita bread and hummus to-go box. The best part of late night dining is that as Tufts freshman, it’s built into the meal plan. More “free” food!
The process is simple:
Snag. Swipe. Eat. Repeat (the next night)
Obviously, on Saturday night, I had to go back again. Returning from a night out with friends, I decided to do my own version of “mixing it up” and we walked uphill to the Carmichael (lovingly nicknamed Carm for short) dining hall.
It was there that stir fry and french fries met and lived happily ever after.
Although I think it violated some unspoken social norm that American pub food should never be mixed with stir fry, let me be the first to tell you that both were marvellous—separate and together.
Late night options range depend on venue, with the Campus Commons offering more to-go options or the usual suspects of chicken tenders and french fries. More of a sit down option, Carm late night has become my late night of choice becuase it offers the classics like chicken tenders and the classier options of non-fried food. Even as I’m writing this, I also have the menu for this weekend’s late night options up on my phone—Tufts publishes the menus for both Dewick and Carm so you can always scope out which one has blueberry pancakes or vegan nut bars during the day.
Tufts students often joke they chose Tufts for the food. Back when I applied, I even wrote my “Why Tufts?” essay on the veggie burgers in Dewick. I have a lot to say about the food on campus so there will have to be a whole separate post complete with a comprehensive review.
The runner-up in Tufts dining is its sundae bars (complete with oreos—my favorite!!!) every Thursday and Sunday. Although I make extra effort to eat in the dining halls on those nights, I’m thankful that they don’t have sundaes every night.
No matter what others tell you, the Freshman 15 is real, but I’m not going to be switching out my sundaes for the dining hall kale salad anytime soon.
Thursdays are a sailing team lift day so at least I can pretend to justify my evening dessert consumption with a successful morning in the gym. Or, I just use it as an excuse to get an extra scoop.